Step right up to the most amazing (drunkest), most thrilling (nerdiest), most awe-inspiring (wear safety goggles) show on Earth–or at least in SF on the third Wednesday of the month! The coolest science teacher will play ringmaster to a physics circus, a biochemist will prove you don’t have to jump through flaming hoops to change your genetic makeup, and a mycologist will entertain you with the clowns of the mushroom world. Be there and be square!

Physics demonstrations are like perfect magic shows: They have all the spectacle, but there are no tricks. The amazing world we live in actually works that way! These are the experiments that your physics teacher didn’t do because they were too dangerous, crazy, or weird. Come for the liquid nitrogen-spewing, glass-breaking spectacle, but leave understanding the science!

Marc “Zeke” Kossover was an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow to the US government, where they listened to him from time to time. Along with performing at science events around the country, he is a mentor teacher with the Exploratorium and runs Sidewalk Science.

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“How Your Lifestyle Can Change Your Genes” by Rhonda Patrick

“It’s genetic–nothing I can do about it, right?” Wrong! If you have a family history of heart disease, diabetes, obesity, breast or prostate cancer, or Alzheimer’s disease, then you merely have a predisposition that can be prevented and even reversed. By changing your diet and lifestyle, you can reach into your DNA and turn genes on or off–and even pass these changes on to your offspring. Come learn the why and how of flipping your epigenetic switches!

Rhonda Patrick is passionate about disseminating health-related information to the public. Now a postdoc at the Bruce Ames (as in the Ames test!) Lab at CHORI, she earned a biochemistry degree from UCSD and a Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.

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“The World’s Weirdest Fungi” by Paul Nagami

Join us as we root around and uncover the strangest, most unbelievable fungi on Earth, from the “Humongous Fungus” under Oregon (Armillaria solidipes) to the tiny Drewes’ Phallus (Phallus drewesii). Carnivorous fungi, brainwashed ants, and the Malaysian Spongebob fungus (Spongiforma squarepantsii) will also feature in this magnificent mycological expedition.

Paul Nagami has been hunting, identifying, and eating wild mushrooms since he was in fourth grade. He co-hosts the microscope table at the Mycological Society of San Francisco’s (www.MSSF.org) annual Fungus Fair.

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DJ Alpha Bravo mans the decks, spinning vinyl and tweeting along to the presentations’ themes. Find out what you’re listening to by following @djalphabravo.